O.M.D. : GENETIC ENGINEERING / 4-NEU [TELEGRAPH - ESP 1983] 7”

Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark "Genetic Engineering" single 7"

(Telegraph - Virgin) 1983 made in Spain

cat. num. B-105 009

#synth pop

a. genetic engineering

b. 4-neu

OMD's glistening run of top-flight singles and chart domination came to a temporary but dramatic halt with Dazzle Ships, the point where the band's pushing of boundaries reached their furthest limit. McCluskey, Humphreys, and company couldn't take many listeners with them, though, and it's little surprise why -- a couple of moments aside, Dazzle Ships is pop of the most fragmented kind, a concept album released in an era that had nothing to do with such conceits.  What else can be said when hearing the album's lead single, the soaring "Genetic Engineering," with its Speak & Spell toy vocals and an opening sequence that also sounds like the inspiration for "Fitter, Happier," for instance?